We continue the series “1/2 Truths” where every week we will explore and analyze a common Christian phrase. Last week we considered the phrase “Everything Happens for a Reason” and this week we move on to the phrase “God Won’t give You More Than You Can Handle.”
This week we explore a phrase that seems so comforting at first! When we are at the depths of misery and pain, this might suggest that there are limits and that God is present to keep us from being overcome. Unfortunately, the underlying message here is at odds with my understanding of the God who is (as written by Anselm of Canterbury) not simply good but is supreme goodness itself; God is not just but is supreme justness itself; “supreme immortality, supreme incorruptibility, supreme blessedness, supreme eternity, supreme power, supreme unity; which is nothing else than supremely being, supremely living, etc.” It doesn’t make sense that it is God who places obstacles before us—even in moderation—if we understand that God is supreme goodness itself.
Herein lies the half-truth. And then we face what I think is the most difficult question as people of faith: where is God when evil is present, when goodness seems absent?
1 Corinthians 10:13 (CEB)
13 No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it.Psalm 18:6,16 (CEB)
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a help always near in times of great trouble.
2 That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart,
when the mountains crumble into the center of the sea…
Consider these questions:
- What powers and pressures today can push us to compromise, abandon, or hide our commitment to Christ? Can any of them leave us with no choice but to give up our faith? 1 Corinthians 10:12 reads, “So those who think they are standing need to watch out or else they may fall.” Does our service to others, our church attendance, or our giving make us “immune” from sin or straying from God?
- Paul writes that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8). Do you believe this? What kind of trials and tribulations have you faced (or are you facing) that may have made you feel the most overwhelmed? Did any of them make you feel like you are separated from God? How can we go about keeping and building our faith and confidence that God is right there with us when we face life’s greatest challenges?
- When you have faced these kinds of trials, did you experience God in some way? How? What did the experience feel like? Was God’s presence obvious, subtle, absent, something else?